Defence Ministry confirmed the test in a statement, “At 0745 hrs today, India successfully conducted a test wherein an incoming ballistic missile target was intercepted by an exo-atmospheric interceptor missile off the Bay of Bengal”,

“Its a fantastic outstanding resounding success of technology of exosphere interception and now it has given us capability of what we call as “hit to kill”. So hit to kill at an altitude between 80 km to 130 km is what the achievement DRDO is and the country has really become very strong as far as the ballistic missile defence is concerned”, said Dr VK Saraswat, former DG DRDO and Chief Scientific Advisor to RM when your site NationalDefence asked for his comments on the missile test.

PDV Exo Atmospheric Interceptor Missile

“We can intercept missile of varieties almost in hit to kill mode today. That is the achievement of this. And today we have strong infrastructure both in terms of radars, communications, missiles, software, hardware, which is required for this; And the greatest point of this launch is that it has got indigenous infrared seeker, which has been able to engage the incoming missile that means the capability of homing guidance has really matured in the country” Dr Saraswat added. (Listen Dr. Saraswat Audio)

With this commendable scientific achievement, India has crossed an important milestone in building its overall capability towards enhanced security against incoming ballistic missile threats. It has entered an exclusive club of four nations including US, Russia, China and Sweden with developing capabilities to secure its skies and cities against hostile threats.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar lauded the efforts of the DRDO and all the scientists involved for their dedicated efforts in this significant achievement.

The latest test exponentially boosts the Indian capabilities to develop Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) shield to protect crucial Indian targets from the nuclear- tipped ballistic missiles fired from either Pakistan or China.

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Editor, National Defence

National Defence (Fight For India) is the initiative of independent Indian journalist Shailesh Kumar, a Strategic Alarmist and National Interest Crusader. With 15 years of media experience, Shailesh Kumar has previously worked with leading television brands.